1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device or an orthosis for supporting and assisting the hand in the grasping of handled objects.
2. Description of Related Art
The grasping of bag handles, or handles of other containers for carrying materials, or other objects having handles, has been problematical for many people, as pressure generated on the hand by the load attached to the handles creates discomfort, and, sometimes, extreme discomfort and injury to users. Plastic film grocery bags, for example, have integral handles made of the same thin flexible material from which the bag is formed. These handles, when grasped, gather, contract, or compress such that the load is distributed over only a thin area within the grip of the user. Paper bags generally have thin, ropelike handles which similarly concentrate forces and pressure along only a thin strip within the user""s grasp. Other containers or objects may employ wire metal handles, which similarly concentrate force and pressure at a narrow area.
As a result of load pressure, transferred by the handles, the handles cut into the surface of the hand. They cut deeply enough into the gripping surfaces of the hand to adversely impact the sensory nerves in many instances. The impact traumatizes the nerves and causes pain. The pain and attendant discomfort will, after a very short time, cause the grasping hand to collapse or deform from a position of function into a position of injury. In the position of injury, the hand assumes a hook or claw-like posture. In the hook or claw-like posture, the fingers of the hand are extended with the last phalanx of each curling into a hook or claw-like shape. It is this shape upon which the handles come to rest. Often the handles will rest upon only three of the four hooked fingers. This adds to the degree of trauma exerted upon the unprotected, unsupported hand.
Protecting the grasping hand is not a new problem. Many attempts have been made to solve this problem in the past. Perhaps the most common solution has been to use padding between the hand and the object gripped. A typical application of the padding solution is the glove. However, most gloves used in grasping or gripping applications serve only to protect the hand against abrasion. They are not intended to, nor do they, support, align, prevent or correct deformities of the gripping hand. Nor do they serve as isometric means.
Heretofore, orthoses have been used remedially for therapeutic purposes to support, align, prevent, or correct deformities or to improve the function of moveable parts of the body. Examples of the therapeutic use of orthoses to restore function to nonfunctional body parts such as the hand are: xe2x80x9cInflatable Palmar Bladderxe2x80x9d, Mann and Mann, U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,668, and xe2x80x9cInflatable Hand Orthosisxe2x80x9d, Stern, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,382,837, and 5,593,369.
Other types of devices are used to protect and improve the function of the hand. An example is: xe2x80x9cHand protector,xe2x80x9d Melone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,738. It is intended exclusively for the therapeutic restoration, support and protection of the injured nonfunctional hand. Physically, the device consists of an immobilizing cast surrounding the hand from the wrist to the knuckles.
The xe2x80x9cShopping Bag Handle Gripxe2x80x9d, Eden, U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,542, is a device for carrying shopping bags. It is comprised of a handle upon which the handles of shopping bags are placed for carrying. However, it is bulky. It neither protects or supports the gripping hand. Nor does it serve otherwise to provide grip enhancing means.
The xe2x80x9cHand Saverxe2x80x9d, Stauffer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,361, is a device for carrying shopping bags, cartons and the like having handles of cord-like material. It is comprised of a body of flexible, resilient material between which at least one pair of separated, confronting surfaces for grippingly receiving a cord like handle are located. It is not easy to use. Handles have to be forced into it, using both hands, for application or use. It is not safe to use because it depends solely upon the resiliency of the device, as opposed to bracing means and fasteners to retain handles therein. It has no fasteners and therefore cannot be affixed to objects trapped therein. Consequently, when it is released from the grip, when set down, the handles lodged therein will be pulled free by the weight of the bag load thereon. As a result, the bag will collapse. When the bag collapses, it will dump its contents. In addition, it does not provide means for bracing the transverse arch. It does not provide means for bracing the longitudinal arch. It does not provide means for bracing the thumb or for bracing the heel of the hand. Nor does it provide means for bracing the palm. It does not provide isometric means. This device does not provide stabilizing means. It does not provide trapping means. It does not provide means for either a lateral shield or an energy absorbent dome. Nor does it provide braking means or fastening means.
The xe2x80x9cIsometric Hand Exercising Systemxe2x80x9d, Blackmore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,755, is an apparatus that provides for isometric means and involves the hands. However, it is used as isometric means solely for exercise of the hand and forearms. It requires simultaneous movement of both hands to achieve isometric involvement. Isometric muscle involvement is focused on arm and forearm development as opposed to enhancement of the grip of the hand.
The xe2x80x9cPlastic Bag Handlexe2x80x9d, Halpin and Okuchi-Halpin, U.S. Pat. No. D367,817, is a design of a handle for carrying plastic bags. It is comprised of a tubular structure with a slit running lengthwise down the side. It most resembles a piece of garden hose split down the side. The slit is the means by which plastic bag handles are inserted therein. This device does not have braking means. Nor does it have isometric means or means for a thumb brace. It does not brace the heel of the hand nor does it have isometric means. This design does not provide for an energy absorbent dome nor does it have fastening means. Neither does it provide bracing means for the palm, the longitudinal arch nor the transverse arch.
xe2x80x9cHandlexe2x80x9d, Sweeney, U.S. Pat. No. D325,156, is a design of a handle for carrying plastic bags. xe2x80x9cPlastic Bag Handlexe2x80x9d, Salazar, U.S. Pat. No. D374,621, is also a design of a handle for carrying plastic bags. However, neither supports the gripping hand. Neither shields the hand from lateral forces. Neither provides a friction brake. Neither provides bracing means for the transverse arch or the longitudinal arch. Also neither provides bracing means for the heel of the hand or the thumb. Further, neither provides bracing means for the palm. Nor does either provide for isometric means or provide for an energy absorbent dome. Clearly, both designs possess the same deficiencies as xe2x80x9cPlastic Bag Handlexe2x80x9d cited previously.
Unpatented devices, used to solve the hand trauma problem, commonly use the solution consisting of the substitution of a larger handle for a smaller one. xe2x80x9cBag Grabberxe2x80x9d, created by Andy Haynes of Nashville, Tenn. (N.Y. Times, May 15, 1996, P. c2) is one such device. It consists of a hard plastic handle that has carrying hooks protruding from the bottom. Another is xe2x80x9cshipping Bag Carrierxe2x80x9d, a product of Magic American Corp. of Cleveland, Ohio. It consists of a hard plastic handle with a single hook, for bag carrying, protruding from the bottom. Still another is the xe2x80x9cCardboard Tube Gripxe2x80x9d. It is a device which includes a handle consisting of a piece of cardboard tube through which a heavy gauge wire has been run and turned down to form short arms at each tube end. These arms have hooks at their ends over which bag handles are placed.
The xe2x80x9cShopping Bag Carrierxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cCardboard Tube Gripxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cBag Grabberxe2x80x9d, all fail to provide means for bracing, the thumb, the longitudinal arch, the transverse arch, the palm, or the heel of the hand. None of the above mentioned has means for isometric engagement stabilization or an energy absorbent dome. Further, none of them provide trapping means or braking means.
The Handle Wrap is a device comprised of a piece of material which is attached to the handles of some pieces of luggage. It is used by wrapping and fastening same around said handles to enlarge the surface area presented for grasping. It combines both handle surface areas into one, thereby providing an increased handle surface area over which to transfer load pressure. Accordingly, its primary function is to increase handle surface area over which load force can be disbursed. However, it provides little more protection than a glove nor does it otherwise support the grasping hand.
The xe2x80x9cBag Grabberxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cShopping Bag Carrierxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cCardboard Tube Gripxe2x80x9d are also dangerous to use. For example, if a handle carried in such devices breaks, it will come free. When it does, the bag carried, will tip and the contents of it spill out. In addition, if the tube, of the xe2x80x9cCardboard Tube Gripxe2x80x9d fractures, the wire frame running through it will also fail. In failing, the wire will bend down upon the hand and painfully squeeze it. The squeezing will result in pain. The pain will cause the holder of the failed device to release it. As a result, the bag will be dropped and damage the contents of it. All told, the disadvantages of the xe2x80x9cBag Grabberxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cCardboard Tube Gripxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cBag Carrierxe2x80x9d negate any advantage gained through their use. These devices fail to provide a satisfactory solution to the hand trauma problem. Further, none of them possesses physically novel features which produce new and unexpected results. None of the devices set forth above achieves a solution to the hand trauma problem. They do not use either a method of, or provide a device for, protecting and supporting the gripping hand. Neither do they present either a method of or device for support and protection of the grasping, gripping hand. That is, none of the solutions presented by these devices involves using an orthosis to prevent trauma induced deformation of the hand.
At present, orthoses and other devices are used exclusively to address the non-functional injured hand. Their method of use is remedial and reactive to existing conditions. They are not used prophylactically to defend against or prevent injury in the first instance. Rather, they are used as a means of restoration of function to injured body parts. Such devices do not currently address the relationship of the longitudinal and transverse arches to maintenance of the grip because the non-functional injured hand cannot, by definition, function in a normal manner. Accordingly, orthoses for the hand have not previously been based on any recognition that trauma to the sensory nerves of the hand is directly related to collapse or deformation of said arches. Neither are orthoses currently intended to support, protect or maintain the arches. Consequently, existing orthoses for the hand do not provide means for correcting or preventing a hand trauma caused by grasping objects such as handles of plastic grocery bags.
Current orthoses for the hand and methods of use thereof do not facilitate maintenance of the hand in a functional posture. Their sole purpose is to provide remedial therapy for the non-grasping, non-functional, injured hand. Therefore, they do not, and, in fact, cannot, facilitate maintenance of the grip of the hand as it grasps trauma-producing objects such as handles of plastic grocery bags.
In view of the aforenoted disadvantages and problems or shortcomings of devices in the prior art, the present invention has been developed. The principal objects and advantages provided by the present invention are as follows:
(a) to provide an orthosis for supporting and protecting the grasping hand from trauma;
(b) to provide an orthosis that is inexpensive and simple to manufacture;
(c) to provide an orthosis that is easy to use;
(d) to provide an orthosis that is easy to store and transport;
(e) to provide an orthosis that can be made in various sizes;
(f) to provide an orthosis that is safe for household applications;
(g) to provide an orthosis that is easily packaged;
(h) to provide an orthosis that can be made in different colors;
(i) to provide an orthosis which can hold several objects simultaneously;
(j) to provide an orthosis that functions as a handle brake;
(k) to provide an orthosis that can be made of energy absorbent, force disbursing material;
(l) to provide an orthosis that can be covered;
(m) to provide an orthosis which is waterproof;
(n) to provide an orthosis which is durable;
(o) to provide an orthosis that can align, prevent, or correct deformities of the hand;
(p) to provide an orthosis that functions as a handle trap;
(q) to provide an orthosis that improves the function of movable parts of the body;
(r) to provide an orthosis which protects the sensory nerves of the hand;
(s) to provide an orthosis which serves as means for bracing both the longitudinal and transverse arches;
(t) to provide an orthosis which functions as a means for stabilizing and balancing both the load carried and the carrier;
(u) to provide an orthosis which has a prophylactic function;
(v) to provide an orthosis which is firm yet resilient;
(w) to provide an orthosis which prevent disorders of the hand which impair vocational capacity;
(x) to provide an orthosis which protects the hand from lateral and vertical forces, and
(y) to provide an orthosis that can be repeatedly used.
It is a further principal object of the present invention to provide a gripping device to be used in connection with a handled object, such as a container with handles extending therefrom, which has sufficient surface area for the application of text or graphics, such as, for example, commercial advertising.
It is yet a further important object of the present invention to provide an advertising distribution system and method, in which a device of the present invention is employed as point-of-purchase advertising that is distributed to customers and remains with the customer.